On the deck of the White Whale, a dense crowd watched Giorno Giovanna, the center of attention.
Liam glanced around, puzzled. "Why are you all looking at me? Why should I tell you anything?"
Vista chuckled. "Keeping your abilities secret is only natural."
Jozu rumbled, "Teach was being rather impolite."
"Zehahaha, was I? Then I apologize," Teach guffawed, waving dismissively. "But a Devil Fruit that can steal other Devil Fruit abilities? I've never heard of such a thing..."
Liam strode toward the others, holding the Tremor-Tremor Fruit chip, his voice dripping with irritation. "Now that's truly impolite!" he snapped. "Who said I'm a Devil Fruit user?"
Marco and the others exchanged surprised glances as Liam shoved the Tremor-Tremor Fruit chip into a random bystander. "I have no interest in Devil Fruits!"
The man before them nervously attempted to activate the Earthquake Power. Liam roared, "What's with this Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Move-Move Fruit! Or Light-Light Fruit, Dark-Dark Fruit! Or Flame-Flame Fruit, Water-Water Fruit... they're all just things that throw everything into chaos!"
"They might not grant unparalleled power, but they'll definitely create an insurmountable weakness!
"Only a fool would willingly become a Devil Fruit Ability user!"
'Damn!' Many Ability users aboard the White Whale felt personally attacked. And wasn't this guy including Old Man in his insult, too? This Giorno is insane!
Teach, who had been turning to leave, froze in his tracks, casting a sharp, predatory glance back at Giorno's retreating figure.
Robin thought she heard another muffled chuckle from behind. What's so funny? she wondered, puzzled.
Liam's words left everyone stunned.
"Every time you're mentioned in the newspaper, you have a different Devil Fruit ability. How can you even say something like that...?" Marco gasped.
"That's exactly my point!" Liam pointed at Marco, then jabbed his thumb at himself. "I can swim whenever I want. Can you do that?"
"This bastard... His smug face is just begging for a punch," Marco muttered.
"Heh heh..." Flower Sword Vista twirled his upturned mustache. "I really want to give him a couple of slashes, right, Jozu?"
The mature and steady "Diamond" Jozu stepped forward through the crowd. Just as Vista and the others thought Jozu was about to confront Giorno over his inability to swim, a sore spot, Jozu instead approached Giorno and muttered a few words.
"Oh, sure, no problem," Liam said cheerfully, promptly pulling out Jozu's Diamond Fruit again.
Without hesitation, Jozu leaped off the ship. As Marco and the others stared in stunned silence, a loud splash echoed from the ship's edge, followed by the sound of Jozu swimming with gusto.
Vista was astonished. "I never imagined Jozu, the perpetually brooding type, had this side to him..."
"Hey! That's too sneaky, Jozu!"
"Letting Giorno take the Diamond Fruit just to go swimming?!"
Once the other Devil Fruit Ability users on board realized what was happening, they erupted in outrage, rushing to the ship's edge to see Third Division Commander Jozu swimming rapidly through the sea, a goofy grin plastered across his face. Soon, the Ability users swarmed Liam.
Liam welcomed them without protest, only grumbling, "Just remember which power belongs to whom. Don't blame me if you mix them up later..."
The deck erupted in festive cheer as the Ability users relished the long-lost joy of swimming.
Despite being a pirate, he couldn't swim. To say he didn't regret it would be a lie. Now that he suddenly had the chance to swim to his heart's content, he had to seize it, making up for decades of lost time and getting a head start on decades to come!
"Old Man, do you want to swim with us?" Marco called out loudly from the sea beside the ship to the imposing figure seated on the deck above.
Whitebeard chuckled, propping his chin in his hand as he watched his sons frolicking in the Sea with paternal affection. "Gū lā lā lā, you all just enjoy yourselves!"
Izo approached Giorno and asked, "What about Zoan?"
"Huh?" Liam turned to look at the Wano Country Fire Gunsamurai, whose height contrasted sharply with his younger brother's androgynous appearance.
Izo smiled. "You casually listed several Devil Fruits earlier, but didn't mention Zoan-types."
"Why would anyone want to abandon their humanity to become a beast?" Liam rolled his eyes.
"Hā hā," Izo chuckled.
As the sun began to dip toward the western horizon, its golden glow shimmering across the Sea, Whitebeard finished his flask of sake and boomed, "Giorno, lad, time to switch back, eh?"
Liam asked, "Is your body fully recovered?"
Whitebeard chuckled heartily. "Never felt better!"
Literally speaking, this was clearly untrue. Even at his healthiest, Whitebeard's body was that of a 60-year-old man, incapable of matching his prime.
But Liam wasn't their ship's nurse or doctor. Since Whitebeard wanted to switch back, he had no objection.
First, Liam pressed his left hand, marked with blue flame patterns, against Whitebeard's scar-free chest, extracting the Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit from within.
Then, his right hand, emblazoned with crimson flame patterns, gripped the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's chip and plunged it into Whitebeard's heart...
The Whitebeard crew members, who had climbed back onto the ship from the sea, watched the entire scene in hushed silence.
The moment the Tremor-Tremor Fruit entered his body, Whitebeard felt that familiar power surge back within him. He opened his eyes to see Giorno extending his right arm into Marco's body, clearly returning the Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit.
Marco glanced up at his Old Man, then turned to face his brothers, his expression serious. "I think we all know what we need to do from now on, right?"
"Naturally," Third Division Commander Jozu replied gravely.
"Understood," Fourth Division Commander Thatch nodded.
Fifth Division Commander Vista twirled his small mustache with a smile. "Are we going to have to specially request Giorno's help again in the future?"
Sixth Division Commander Blamenco added, "As sons, we felt utterly powerless, having to rely on an outsider. This time was already deeply humiliating enough..."
Whitebeard lowered his gaze, his eyes softening.
Marco turned back, a gentle smile on his face. "Old Man, from now on, we'll try our best to keep you from using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, okay?"
Whitebeard harrumphed. "Trying to surpass me? You brats are still a hundred years too early! Gū lā lā lā..."
The World's Strongest Old Man roared with laughter, filling the deck of the Moby Dick with cheerful energy.
With the Old Man restored to health and his sons so considerate, nothing could bring greater joy.
"You've done us a great service, Giorno, kid," Whitebeard said, sitting on the steps with his elbows resting on his knees.
The others turned to look, chiming in, "That's right! Giorno has been a tremendous help to us!"
Liam exclaimed, "Are you senile? I was helping you guys out, right? We were busy all day! Just the Devil Fruit transfers alone must have been over a hundred times..."
So petty? The Whitebeard Pirates members instantly broke out in cold sweats. While they found Giorno's behavior a bit excessive, they couldn't argue with the truth.
"Gū lā lā lā! What an interesting kid!" Whitebeard threw back his head and roared with laughter, then leaned forward to ask, "Tell me, what reward do you want? If it's within my power, Whitebeard will make it happen!"
Amid the general uproar, Marco raised his head and said, "Oh, right! Before we came, he mentioned a request... he wants us to help him kill someone..."
"Kill someone, huh!"
The other Whitebeard Pirates members breathed a collective sigh of relief. For them, this was far too simple. How many heads do you want?
The crew raised their arms and roared, pledging that if Giorno simply gave them a name, they would risk their lives to kill even the allies of other Sea Emperors.
"What kind of formidable opponent..." Whitebeard asked with genuine interest, looking down at Liam with a smile. "Requires my assistance for you to be confident in killing them?"
"It's not exactly asking for your help," Liam replied modestly. "I just need your approval. I can handle the rest myself."
"Hm?" Marco and the other commanders suddenly sensed something was off.
Whitebeard frowned. "Who do you want to kill?"
"Him," Liam replied, looking up at Whitebeard while pointing in another direction.
Everyone followed his finger, their eyes swiveling toward the designated target.
Robin sighed inwardly.
"Huh? What's going on?" Teach, still reeling from the agony of losing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, suddenly realized all eyes were on him again, and Giorno was still pointing…
(End Of This Chapter)
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